From the movie The Road to El Dorado, Tulio and Miguel pretend to be gods in El Dorado. The cosplayers (Miguel is @Ujjio Cosplay) won Research and Best in Show at Ottawa Comic Con 2023.
Jen Desmarais
Week 25 – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Results
Pegasus loved this movie. He laughed at all the right moments and scoffed at others when they did silly things.
Dance
As per usual, I didn’t do anything specific for this.
Music
His scales are coming along nicely and he willingly practises both his scales and the pieces in the book. He moved on to a new page this week.
Crochet
We haven’t started this yet.
Basic Information
We are working on the day before and the day after any given day. The months of the year is going well. All months have proper pronounciation now, and we’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
We practised the seasons, but he still needs help remembering them in French.
Printing words
We’re working on spacing between words, and thinking about where capital letters belong in words. We’re also working on what letters go below the line and what letters are taller than others.
Counting objects/math-type activities
He still has no problems with counting these, and I feel like his numbers have improved.
Math worksheets. He REALLY likes these. He did them both on Monday because he was so excited to do them once again.
Storytime
We got 4 new French library books this week. We read one.
Activity
Make pancakes – Pegasus really enjoyed doing the pouring, although he’s still not holding the cups still for milk, so it just sort of flows in and out, so it made the pancakes a little doughier than we would normally make them. He loved watching for the bubbles to know when to flip them, and really didn’t want to try flipping them himself. (He’s scared to burn himself.)
Learn about the weather – We learned a little about weather last week, when graupel fell on Thursday. Graupel looks like little balls of styrofoam (and sounds like it too), and I was very curious about what it was, so I took some pictures and sent them off to Mark Robinson, a meterologist (and friend). Graupel forms by getting a super cold “dry” deposition of frost on a tiny ice pellet.
Design an island – We did this differently than the way I did it with Dragon, and I was REALLY happy with how this turned out. We poured dice on the paper (rice can be used as well), and then traced the outline. Anywhere where there were holes became lakes, where the dice were stacked became mountains. Then we cleared the dice, selected a few and threw them again to trace around for forests. Something I would change in the future: I would make the mountains upsidedown V’s instead of circles.
Introducing Main Characters
When we’re writing, it helps to have a basic visual for the characters, before adding characteristics that then change them (either slightly or drastically). Sometimes it’s quite easy to find your dream cast, other times its next to impossible.
In Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests, we were able to reuse a lot of the characters from Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers (with one notable exception – spoilers!). You can check them out here (link to secondary characters part 1, with parts 2 & 3 links at the bottom of the page).
Kennedy Fairfield
Age: 22
Date of Birth: July 11, 1980
Appearance: Long blonde hair, green eyes, tall, white
Job: Agricultural Scientist at the Westmeath Agricultural Research Cooperative (Westmeath ARC). AKA the Wraith, a vigilante who glows with an unearthly green light and seen with the Phantom since September 2002
Family: mother and father Lilah and Gerard Fairfield live on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario; grandmother Denise Lake lives in Baker, Ontario
Siblings: Older brother Phillip, married and has one son (just shy of 2 years old); twin older sisters Eliza and MacKenzie; younger brother Tommy
Jason Johnson
Age: 26
Date of Birth: November 8, 1976
Appearance: Shaggy dark hair, hazel eyes, tall, golden brown skin
Job: Owner and operator of a pizza restaurant The Hawaiian. Co-head of the Oldtown Council. AKA the Westmeath Phantom, a vigilante with the power to manipulate and control shadows
Parents: Hammond and Monique Johnson, both deceased.
Family: Younger sister Zoe is married to Gabrielle and they have one daughter Brooke (just shy of 2 years old); grandmother Kathryn Johnson
Tommy Fairfield
Age: 15
Date of Birth: May 11, 1988
Appearance: Short blond hair, green eyes, tall, white
Grade: 9
Favourite class: Math or Science or Music
Family: mother and father Lilah and Gerard Fairfield live on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario; grandmother Denise Lake lives in Baker, Ontario
Siblings: Older brother Phillip, married and has one son (just shy of 2 years old); twin older sisters Eliza and MacKenzie; older sister Kennedy, who is engaged to Jason Johnson and lives in Westmeath.
Carter Batudev
Age: 15
Date of Birth: March 5, 1988
Appearance: Curly brown hair, grey eyes, tall, bronze skin
Grade: 9
Favourite class: Science
Parents: Sam and William Batudev own a bakery in Westmeath, Ontario
Siblings: None
Veronica Giles
Age: 26
Date of Birth: Unknown
Appearance: Short and pale, with shoulder length chocolate wavy brown hair, large eyes, heart shaped face, and pointy chin; has an air of innocence
Job: Engineer at Door Tech in Westmeath
Family: Her uncle is Reverend Patrick Mitchel, the reverend of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Anglican Church in Westmeath
Connection to Protagonists: Jason’s best friend and the Phantom’s ‘Person in the Chair’
Catch up on their first adventure:
Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers
and find out what Tommy and Carter got up to in the spin-off Crushing It
You can find bonus content for both books here!
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
Week 26 – Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest
Don Bluth has made some excellent films, and I love discussing modifications to characters to give them a unique look. (and how they still have their similarities!) This is also a low-key activity week, which is perfect for before March Break.
Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (I hope this works…please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 3 Rs | Watch movie | Amazon rainforest | Flex | plant seedlings |
Summary of the week
Daily details:
Dance
Ballet and martial arts on alternate days
Music
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano, learning guitar
Crochet
On break
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
Download material
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – (in download material)
Addition and pattern – worksheet
Storytime
Activity
3 Rs
Learn about the Amazon Rainforest
Plant seedlings in the house
Next week: Inside Out
Casual Rapunzel
This would be the perfect outfit to casually cosplay as Rapunzel in a Disney park. The ears are gorgeous.
Week 24 – Zootopia Results
Pegasus was super invested in this movie. He liked when Judy and Nick worked together.
Dance
As per usual, I didn’t do anything specific for this.
Music
His scales are coming along nicely and he willingly practises both his scales and the pieces in the book.
Crochet
We haven’t started this yet.
Basic Information
We are working on the day before and the day after any given day. The months of the year is going well. All months have proper pronounciation now, and we’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
We practised the seasons, but he still needs help remembering them in French.
Printing words
We’re working on spacing and keeping the words on the bottom line. I think he’s getting better at this.
Counting objects/math-type activities
He still has no problems with counting these, and I feel like his numbers have improved.
Math worksheets. He REALLY likes these. He did them both on Monday because he was so excited to do them once again.
Storytime
We read 2 of the French library books this week.
Activity
Shapes Activity – We did this before the Blue Eye experiment discussion, essentially having the same conversation but with using shapes that he cut out. He seemed to catch on, which made the other discussion easier to follow for him.
Experiment Blue Eyes – We talked about the experiment while we were unloading the dishwasher. Pegasus was very indignant that one group of people had privileges just because of the way they looked. This led to discussions about the Holocaust, Gaza, and segregation.
Elephant Rescues – He enjoyed learning about the elephant rescue program, but was sad that their mothers died/were killed.
Week 25 – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
This movie (and its sequel) are so much fun and I usually end up discussing ecosystems as well.
Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (I hope this works…please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| pancakes | Watch movie | weather | Flex | design island |
Summary of the week
Daily details:
Dance
Ballet and martial arts on alternate days
Music
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano, learning guitar
Crochet
On break
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
Download material
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – (in download material)
Addition and pattern – worksheet
Storytime
Activity
Make pancakes
Weather
Design an island
Next week: Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest
Venti
If you play Genshin Impact, you’ve probably seen Venti. Do you think he’d run off with the Doctor?
Week 23 – Soul Results
Pegasus enjoyed the movie. He said 22 was his favourite character. (Not surprised)
Dance
As per usual, I didn’t do anything specific for this.
Music
His scales are coming along nicely and he willingly practises both his scales and the pieces in the book.
Crochet
We haven’t started this yet.
Basic Information
We are working on the day before and the day after any given day. The months of the year is going well. All months have proper pronounciation now, and we’re working on the month before and after any given month. That’s coming slowly.
We practised the seasons, but he still needs help remembering them in French.
Printing words
We’re working on spacing and keeping the words on the bottom line. I think he’s getting better at this.
Counting objects/math-type activities
He still has no problems with counting these, and I feel like his numbers have improved.
Math worksheets. He REALLY likes these. He did them both on Monday because he was so excited to do them.
Storytime
We got 4 new French library books. We read 2 this week.
Activity
Blues and jazz music – We listened to both and I talked about their history. See Dragon’s Soul Results for links.
Learn to meditate – Pegasus liked the meditation exercise I led him in. He even tried it on his own later.
Make a personality zine – I used the Personality Traits from this website to discuss the areas of his personality. He decided which words fit him best, and then he built the zine himself from my template. (I love that template.)
Week 24 – Zootopia
Pegasus loves this movie so I’m excited to show it to him in French.
Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (I hope this works…please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| experiment | Watch movie | elephant rescues | Flex | shapes |
Summary of the week
Daily details:
Dance
Ballet and martial arts on alternate days
Music
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano, learning guitar
Crochet
On break
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
Download material
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – (in download material)
Addition and pattern – worksheet
Storytime
Activity
Experiment Blue Eyes (link to experiment) – use different shapes in different colours and have them grouped in different ways, picking one group to be “lesser” each time. Does that make sense? No!
Elephant rescues in Africa (video)
Shapes Activity (print out in folder) – can make more shapes. Group them, name them, etc.
Next week: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs